The British Grand Prix was a case of damage limitation for Aston Martin, with Fernando Alonso finishing the race seventh and Lance Stroll 14th.

It was a performance that netted the team six points in the constructors’ championship as it lost further ground to Mercedes.

The two teams are now split by 22 points in the standings, with Mercedes second to Red Bull with 203 points.

However, while Aston Martin lost ground in that battle, it inched further clear of Ferrari as the Scuderia amassed just three points from the Silverstone weekend.

“Damage limitation,” said team boss Mike Krack of the weekend.

“We did not have the performance that we wanted to have come Saturday, Sunday.

“To go away with scoring more points than Ferrari, I think you can call it damage limitation.”

Aston Martin has been one of the standout teams this season, amassing six podiums from the opening 10 races.

Its performances of late have been dulled, however, with Alonso best placed for the team in Austria in fifth.

That has coincided with an upturn from Mercedes, which has scored podiums in three of the past four races.

“I always said you cannot have all the time podiums,” Krack said.

“So we had six podiums in 10 races – I think I always said that there will be also moments where it will be a bit more difficult.

“And we had now a race where, clearly on Saturday we didn’t have the pace.

“Going into the race, I said we need to rely on our strengths,” he added, “which I think pitstops, restarts, execution, strategy… and it played out quite well.

“I think this allowed us to come home still with these points.”

The Hungarian Grand Prix is up next, a tighter circuit than in Austria and Britain, with more low- and medium-speed corners.

With upgrades in train for Aston Martin, Krack is cautiously optimistic.

“We are we are realists,” he began.

“We have always been; we have never been dreamers, so, we will look at the track, we will look at our car, how to set it up for that.

“If you look at the characteristic, it should play better into your car than other circuits.”